Illness/Sickness: Floating axolotl :((

[Princes sparkles]

Help pls my golden axolotl is almost 6 months old and she keeps floating upside down and is unable to stay down withought wedging herself between something.

This has been going on for a few days and she looks completely fine besides that. Her gills aren’t curled nor is her tail and she’s eating fine, although I’ve had to put her in a separate shallow container to feed her so she’s not swimming constantly.

Her tank is bare bottom and the water parameters are fine. I left her in the container with water just covering her for 12 hours though I’m scared to do it longer bc to keep the water shallow enough for her to stand it doesn’t cover her completely and her tail kinda falls over. Also I go to school for 10 hours and I don’t think my mom would know what to do if something went wrong while I’m away.

I’m also scared about her staying in the main tank too long bc the cave she goes under to keep from floating is in a weird shape and she has to bend herself to fit and I’m worried that if she stays in that position for too long something else bad will happen.

I feed her earth worms, sinking pellets and occasionally blood worms every other day. I don’t want to fridge her bc my family is incredibly disorganized and chaotic and I have a ten year old sister who I don’t trust to be careful if she was getting something else from the fridge, but I will if I have to.

I think gas or air build up is the problem but I don’t know how to go about fixing it. If anyone has any advise I’d greatly appreciate it, she’s my first axolotl and I love her a lot!

 

[JM29]

Your axolotl hasmost probably swallowed a lot of air.
It's usually a problem of stress.
I met this problem whith my first axolotls when I kept them in my living room. Too hot.
Now they are in my garage (10°C in winter) in a lightened planted tank and I haven't met this problem for the last 18 years.

 

[axolotl nerd]

Help pls my golden axolotl is almost 6 months old and she keeps floating upside down and is unable to stay down withought wedging herself between something.

This has been going on for a few days and she looks completely fine besides that. Her gills aren’t curled nor is her tail and she’s eating fine, although I’ve had to put her in a separate shallow container to feed her so she’s not swimming constantly.

Her tank is bare bottom and the water parameters are fine. I left her in the container with water just covering her for 12 hours though I’m scared to do it longer bc to keep the water shallow enough for her to stand it doesn’t cover her completely and her tail kinda falls over. Also I go to school for 10 hours and I don’t think my mom would know what to do if something went wrong while I’m away.

I’m also scared about her staying in the main tank too long bc the cave she goes under to keep from floating is in a weird shape and she has to bend herself to fit and I’m worried that if she stays in that position for too long something else bad will happen.

I feed her earth worms, sinking pellets and occasionally blood worms every other day. I don’t want to fridge her bc my family is incredibly disorganized and chaotic and I have a ten year old sister who I don’t trust to be careful if she was getting something else from the fridge, but I will if I have to.

I think gas or air build up is the problem but I don’t know how to go about fixing it. If anyone has any advise I’d greatly appreciate it, she’s my first axolotl and I love her a lot!

i just skimmed through this, but i recommended tubbing her and keeping the water just deep enough to cover her back so she cant float. i'll read through this again and offer better advice later

 

[wolfen]

she will most likely need to be tubbed until the air has passed through.
what type of pellets are you feeding her, hard pellets are known for causing air build up.
reducing temperature will reduce size of the trapped gas allowing it to pass through faster.
make sure the tank water is oxygenated enough to reduce surface air gulping, any water containing an axolotl needs to be oxygenated.
make sure whilst he/she is tubbed that water is changed daily with water that is dechlorinated first.
although you say water parameters are good it is still useful to know what they are, ie.. temperature, ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and if possible kh gh.

 

[Princes sparkles]

she will most likely need to be tubbed until the air has passed through.
what type of pellets are you feeding her, hard pellets are known for causing air build up.
reducing temperature will reduce size of the trapped gas allowing it to pass through faster.
make sure the tank water is oxygenated enough to reduce surface air gulping, any water containing an axolotl needs to be oxygenated.
make sure whilst he/she is tubbed that water is changed daily with water that is dechlorinated first.
although you say water parameters are good it is still useful to know what they are, ie.. temperature, ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and if possible kh gh.

Thank you so much!! I have a sponge filter so I think the tank has enough oxygen. I’m not sure what kind of pellets bc my teacher who gave me the axolotl put a bunch in a separate bag for me but I’ll only feed her worms until I can get better pellets. Nitrite is 0, nitrate is 20, ph is between 7 and 7.5, kh and gh are 10. I try to keep temperature under 65, usually it’s 63.

 

[axolotl nerd]

Thank you so much!! I have a sponge filter so I think the tank has enough oxygen. I’m not sure what kind of pellets bc my teacher who gave me the axolotl put a bunch in a separate bag for me but I’ll only feed her worms until I can get better pellets. Nitrite is 0, nitrate is 20, ph is between 7 and 7.5, kh and gh are 10. I try to keep temperature under 65, usually it’s 63.

not knowing the exact ingredients can be a big risk, i'd suggest discontinuing them and ask the teacher what they are. parameters sound good, but do you have anything for ammonia? that could be a potential cause. ive been very pressed for time and haven't read through the entirety of your original post, but im inclined to trust whatever @wolfen and @JM29 say on the subject, considering they are more or less experts.

 

[Princes sparkles]

not knowing the exact ingredients can be a big risk, i'd suggest discontinuing them and ask the teacher what they are. parameters sound good, but do you have anything for ammonia? that could be a potential cause. ive been very pressed for time and haven't read through the entirety of your original post, but im inclined to trust whatever @wolfen and @JM29 say on the subject, considering they are more or less experts.

Thank you, I’ll try to get the water tested for ammonia soon!

 

[wolfen]

although air-sponge filters use air to pull water through the sponge media, due to the bubbles large size the amount of oxygen that gets absorbed into the water is low and therefore using an air-stones as well is advised.
please get a liquid freshwater test kit as they are more accurate in measuring levels than test strips, kh and gh needs to be tested separately.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Salmon pellets or Hikari sinking pellets are generally better to use with an axolotl. They can be finnicky with worms so if you are feeding worms, you might need to prepare a special way. I agree with @wolfen to get a liquid test kit.

Another problem with the unlabeled pellets you currently have is you don't have an expiration date. So I second discontinuing.